Generally, a refrigerator refers to a household electrical appliance, which is constructed to store foodstuffs in a storage space that is maintained at a lower temperature and is hermetically closed by a door. The refrigerator is capable of storing foodstuffs contained therein in an optimal state by cooling the inside of the storage space using cold air, which is created through heat exchange with refrigerant circulating in a refrigerating cycle.
Such refrigerators tend to increase in size and to have multiple functions in response to changes in trends and eating habits, and refrigerators having various structures for user convenience are being placed on the market.
The difference in temperature between the outside and inside of a general refrigerator is in a temperature range of about 20-40° C. In such a case, since the inside of the refrigerator, which is at the lower temperature, has a relatively low pressure, there is a problem whereby it is difficult to open the door of the refrigerator. In addition, the magnetic attraction created by a magnet provided in a gasket between the door and the cabinet of the refrigerator makes it even more difficult to open the door.
In order to solve such problems, conventional refrigerators, which adopts a so-called “easy open handle” structure that is designed to push the front surface of the cabinet when the door handle of the refrigerator is pulled, have been suggested.
However, since the easy open handle structure requires a large number of parts, there are problems in that the construction becomes complicated and manufacturing costs are increased.
In connection therewith, Korean Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 10-2013-0045445 discloses a refrigerator, which includes a pressure regulator designed to eliminate the difference in pressure between the inside and outside of the refrigerator by allowing the inside to communicate with the outside when it is desired to open the door of the refrigerator.
However, since the difference in pressure between the inside and outside of the refrigerator is great even in the case in which the pressure regulator is adopted, there is a problem whereby frost is generated on the inner surface of a connecting tube, which connects the inside and outside of the refrigerator.
When a large amount of frost is created, the connecting tube is blocked, and thus the function of eliminating the pressure difference may be not fulfilled. Accordingly, there is the necessity to periodically remove the accumulated frost.
In addition, in the case in which a storage compartment in a cabinet is a freezing compartment, which is maintained at a temperature below zero, since the difference in temperature between the inside and outside of the refrigerant is even greater, the necessity to eliminate the pressure difference and to remove frost using the pressure regulator may be further increased.
In the case of a direct cooling-type evaporator, a refrigerant pipe of the evaporator is disposed in a storage compartment, and the refrigerant pipe performs direct heat exchange with ambient air, thereby cooling the storage compartment.
In the case of freezing compartment having a large space, a refrigerant pipe of an evaporator must be disposed so as to efficiently cool all of the areas inside the freezing compartment, thereby necessitating a structure capable of mounting and supporting a refrigerant pipe, the structure having a shape suitable for the disposition of the refrigerant pipe.